Wakilii

Masimba v Singh and Another (Civil Case No. 587 of 1949)

East African Court of Appeal · [1950] EACA 38 · 1950 Appeal Partly Allowed AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Appeal against Deputy Registrar's taxation of Bill of Costs
Decision
Taxation varied; certain items disallowed and matter remitted to Registrar

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions—always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Supreme Court will not interfere with a Deputy Registrar's taxation of costs save in exceptional cases, as a judge is not a fit tribunal to decide questions of quantum. Under rule 5 of the Advocates' Remuneration and Taxation of Costs Rules, a Deputy Registrar has jurisdiction to act as Taxing Master without appointment by the Chief Justice. However, costs for correspondence with the Rent Control Board not essential to the plaintiff's case should be disallowed.

Outcome

Taxation varied; certain items disallowed and matter remitted to Registrar

Facts

The plaintiff obtained judgment in a suit for possession of a dwelling-house. The Deputy Registrar taxed the plaintiff's bill of costs, allowing Sh. 2,000 under 'Instructions to file action' (reduced from the claimed Sh. 5,000) and allowing various items relating to correspondence with the Rent Control Board. The defendant appealed the taxation, contending the instruction fee was patently excessive and that the Deputy Registrar lacked legal competence to tax the bill under the Advocates' Remuneration and Taxation of Costs Rules.

Issues

  1. Whether the Deputy Registrar allowed an amount so patently excessive under 'Instructions to file Action' that he exercised his discretion unjudicially.
  2. Whether the Deputy Registrar was legally competent to tax the bill under the Advocates' Remuneration and Taxation of Costs Rules.
  3. Whether costs incurred for correspondence with the Rent Control Board should have been disallowed as costs between solicitor and client.

Orders

  • Appeal partly allowed.
  • Bill remitted to the Registrar with instructions to disallow items Nos. 15, 16, 17, 22 and 23.
  • Each party to bear its own costs.

Rules and key headnotes

Taxation of Costs — Interference by Supreme Court — Quantum
A judge of the Supreme Court is not a fit tribunal to decide questions of quantum on the taxation of costs, and the Court will not interfere in such matters save in exceptional cases.
Taxation of Costs — Jurisdiction of Deputy Registrar
Under rule 5 of the Advocates' Remuneration and Taxation of Costs Rules, a Deputy Registrar has jurisdiction to act as Taxing Master, and it is not necessary for him to be appointed by the Chief Justice in the absence of the Registrar.
Taxation of Costs — Costs Between Solicitor and Client
Correspondence with the Rent Control Board that is not essential to the plaintiff's case against the defendants should be regarded as costs between solicitor and client and disallowed on taxation.

Legislation cited (1)

Cases cited (4)

  • S. K. Patel v Jetha & Mulji (1944/45) XXI K.L.R. 27
  • Hasham Kara v Karmali (1946/47) XXII K.L.R. 1
  • Zala & Zala (1946/47) XXII K.L.R. 6
  • Kalyanjee v M. M. Stores (Civil Appeal No. 24/47) XXIV K.L.R. Pt. I, 47

Full judgment

↓ Download PDF

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Masimba v Singh and Another (Civil Case No. 587 of 1949) [1950] EACA 38 (1 January 1950)
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.